Telephone poles frequently need to be replaced for many reasons. For example, a car may hit the pole, the pole may crack, the pole may need to be moved, the pole may become infested, or a taller pole may be required because the electric company needs additional height. Thousands of poles are replaced each year. Technicians install the new pole before removing the old pole. The new pole must be placed near the old pole but at a point where the digging of the hole is not a problem. For example, the location of the pole must avoid interference with any underground wiring. As a result, the new pole will have a different positional relationship for mounting the wires and cables and other equipment. The new telephone pole is typically placed approximately four feet away from the existing telephone pole.
Once the new pole is in place, many devices attached to the existing pole have to be transferred to the new pole. This can create difficulties.
For example, the telephone company may have an aerial terminal distribution box hard-mounted to the telephone pole. The terminal distribution box provides terminals for connections to wire pairs within an overhead 200 pair telco cable through a permanent splice to the overhead cable. The permanent splice is typically located approximately six feet from the existing pole. A lead stub (typically 25 or 50 pair) extends from the terminal box and connects the terminal box to the splice. The permanent splice stub is typically sealed with lead sheathing which is subject to work hardening. Plastic sheathing may also be used which will crack if subjected to repeated bending. Consequently, repeated bending will cause cracks and leakage of the stub and/or the splice.
When the technicians install a new pole and remove an existing pole, the position of the splice relative to the pole changes. Often, the length of the existing lead stub is too short; therefore, the existing terminal box does not align with the new pole for mounting purposes. The terminal box and drop wires are too heavy to hang down from the stub connection and the splice.
The existing terminal box could be replaced and a new terminal box hard mounted to the new pole. The new terminal box would have a new lead stub of either 12 or 25 feet extending therefrom to the physical location of the splice. The existing splice has to be opened up, the existing lead stub removed and the new lead stub cut to length and connected to wires of the distribution cable within the splice.
Such a terminal box replacement is expensive, because a new terminal box is required, and it takes a technician six to eight hours to install a new terminal box and splice the stub lead into the existing splice. Service for subscribers relying on the terminal box is interrupted during the installation. Further, maintenance problems are created by having to resplice the new terminal box. Technicians make errors in splicing, and it is always possible that the splice may not be properly sealed and service outages may occur due to weather damage and the like.
Sometimes the terminal box and lead stub are removed and the splice is left open because a technician cannot immediately be sent out to repair the splice leaving the splice open to the environment. Because the splice has to be sealed to properly function, maintenance problems may result if the splice is left open during inclement weather.
The existing terminal box, stub and splice constitute perfectly good working loop plant equipment. Except for the pole replacement, there often is no need for service or replacement of these components. For all of the above reasons, telephone company technicians often do not cut in a new terminal box at the time of pole replacement. Instead, the terminal box is left in place, connected to the distribution cable through the stub and splice and providing connection to the subscribers drop wires.
In many such cases, during removal of the existing terminal box, the existing terminal box is secured to the overhead cable with tape, twine or cable ties. This situation may occur to prevent the splice from being left open during inclement weather. This is only a temporary solution because the twine or tape, when left exposed to sun and weather, quickly deteriorates, creating a hazardous condition should the terminal box become loose and fall.
When installed on a telephone pole, the terminal box is vertical, and the design of the terminal box seals the unit from precipitation. However, when tied to the cable, the terminal box assumes a horizontal position. This repositioning defeats the design of the terminal box seals. The terminal box leaks, and often the horizontal box collects water on the inside. Any moisture in the box can damage the circuitry, causing maintenance problems and/or service outages.
Further, such make-shift supports are disadvantageous in that the technician may need to untie the terminal box later, for example, to open the box and change connections to terminals located therein. Additionally, the terminal box will often be suspended from the overhead cable at a different position than it was mounted to the telephone pole. This difference in position causes stress, may work harden the lead sheathing in the splice and could cause service outages and later maintenance problems.
Twine may also be used to support the terminal box before or during removal of the terminal box. Because some of the terminal boxes are quite heavy and the technician is working off of a ladder or aerial bucket truck, a dangerous situation can sometimes occur should the technician become off balance due to the unsupported weight of the terminal box after the technician cuts the twine.
A need exists for a method of replacing a telephone pole that does not require immediate replacement of the stub or the opening of the existing splice. A need also exists for a method of replacing the telephone pole that does not require a new terminal box. Yet another need is for a method of replacing a telephone pole that does not cause a service outage. Other needs exist for maintaining the terminal box in the same location as the terminal box was mounted to the telephone pole to avoid stress on the splice. Still another need exists for a less expensive method of replacing a telephone pole that does not require significant time of a skilled technician.